Chapter 6 - NATHANIEL'S LAST VIDEO
I forgot how to breathe.
Nathaniel stared at me from three years ago.
His hair was longer than I remembered from his final weeks.
His tie was loose.
Behind him was a room I didn't recognize.
A cheap motel, maybe.
Nothing like the places he usually stayed.
The timestamp showed 2:17 AM.
Eleven days before his death.
Sylvester paused the video.
“Claire.”
“Don't.”
“You don't have to—”
“Play it.”
He did.
Nathaniel looked exhausted.
“If you're watching this, it means I was right.”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“And if I was right, you cannot trust my mother.”
I felt physically sick.
Nathaniel continued.
“I don't know how much time I have, so I'm going to make this simple.”
He looked off-camera.
A sound.
Footsteps?
Then back.
“My uncle Graham has been moving assets through Cross Continental for years.”
Sylvester leaned closer.
“Money?”
Nathaniel continued.
“Ports.”
“Private loans.”
“Shell companies.”
“Political donations.”
“Contracts I never approved.”
“I found internal ledgers.”
My heart pounded.
“When I confronted him, he told me the company would collapse if the truth came out.”
He laughed once.
Bitter.
“He said families like ours don't survive honesty.”
Sylvester muttered something under his breath.
Nathaniel continued.
“My mother knew.”
I closed my eyes.
Eleanor.
He swallowed.
“I don't know when she knew.”
“I don't know how much.”
“But she begged me not to go to federal authorities.”
He leaned toward the camera.
“She said Graham would destroy Claire.”
My name again.
My chest tightened.
“And Lucas.”
Nathaniel’s voice broke slightly.
That was the moment I began to cry.
Not loudly.
Just tears.
Quiet.
Hot.
Impossible to stop.
“I changed the trust.”
He continued.
“If anything happens to me, Lucas controls my voting shares through independent trustees.”
Sylvester looked at me.
I kept watching.
“I sent partial copies to Michael Vale.”
Michael.
Sylvester.
“I sent the originals somewhere Graham won't easily find.”
My hand covered my mouth.
Nathaniel glanced behind him again.
“If Michael is watching this, I'm sorry.”
Sylvester lowered his eyes.
“I should have listened to you years ago.”
A long pause.
“Claire, the trust is not about money.”
My breath stopped.
“It's evidence.”
Sylvester looked up sharply.
Nathaniel continued.
“Every transfer Graham made through family-controlled entities is tied to the voting trust.”
“If Lucas’s ownership is recognized, his trustees gain audit rights.”
Sylvester whispered, “Jesus.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He held up one hand.
Nathaniel kept speaking.
“That is why they will challenge his paternity.”
My blood ran cold.
“That is why they will attack you.”
I gripped the chair.
“That is why they may try to make you disappear.”
My tears stopped.
“They don't need Lucas dead.”
The sentence hit the room like a physical blow.
“They need him legally erased.”
I looked toward the room where my son slept.
Nathaniel continued.
“If he disappears physically, people ask questions.”
“If Claire appears unstable, negligent, dishonest, or unfit, custody can move.”
I remembered court.
The accusations.
The investigators.
The confidential reports.
My supposed “emotional instability.”
God.
It had already started.
Three years ago.
Nathaniel looked directly at the camera.
“If my mother ever asks for guardianship…”
I whispered, “No.”
“…do not let her have him.”
My chair scraped backward.
I stood.
I couldn't sit anymore.
Sylvester paused the video.
“No.”
I wiped my face.
“Keep going.”
“You're shaking.”
“Keep going.”
He did.
Nathaniel spoke more softly now.
“There are three original documents.”
“Trust amendment.”
“Audit authorization.”
“And what I'm calling the Black Ledger.”
Sylvester and Edmund exchanged a glance.
Nathaniel held up a black notebook.
“The ledger contains transaction references.”
“Not full evidence.”
“Enough to unlock it.”
He leaned forward.
“The key is Lucas.”
My heart stopped.
“What does that mean?” I whispered.
On-screen Nathaniel seemed almost to answer me.
“Not biologically.”
I exhaled.
“The key is his birth record.”
I stared.
“The certificate contains a registration number.”
“First six digits identify the county.”
“Last six correspond to a vault account.”
Sylvester froze.
Nathaniel continued.
“I know this sounds insane.”
“It is.”
“But normal methods aren't safe.”
He smiled faintly.
That crooked smile I remembered.
The one Lucas had inherited.
My heart broke.
“Claire is going to hate all of this.”
A laugh escaped me through tears.
“Yes.”
Sylvester glanced toward me.
Nathaniel continued.
“She hates secrets.”
Another faint smile.
“She is going to hate me for leaving one.”
I whispered, “I already do.”
“But I need you safe.”
His expression changed.
Harder.
“If something happens to me, don't believe the first explanation.”
I closed my eyes.
“Especially if they say it was an accident.”
Nobody moved.
Three years of grief rearranged itself inside me.
Not gone.
Worse.
Different.
Nathaniel leaned back.
“I damaged my own brake line yesterday.”
Sylvester jolted.
“What?”
I stared at the screen.
Nathaniel held up a small metal component.
“To see whether the car's monitoring system would detect it.”
He shook his head.
“It did.”
My mind raced.
The police report had said damaged brake line.
Nathaniel continued.
“So if my brakes fail later and the onboard system claims no warning occurred…”
He looked directly into the camera.
“…someone altered the system.”
Sylvester stopped the video.
His face had gone pale.
“He proved it.”
“What?”
“The police report.”
“But they said wear.”
“Because they didn't have this.”
My hands shook.
“Nathaniel sabotaged his own car?”
“As a test.”
“That is insane.”
“Yes.”
“And somebody later killed him the same way?”
“We don't know.”
I nearly screamed.
“Stop saying that.”
Sylvester stood.
“We need evidence, Claire.”
“I watched my dead fiancé tell me not to believe the accident.”
“I know.”
“He filed a brake sabotage report.”
“Yes.”
“He changed his son's trust.”
“Yes.”
“He hid a video behind our wall.”
“Yes.”
“And you still need more?”
“For a murder accusation?”
His voice was firm.
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
Then nodded.
He was right.
I hated that he was right.
“Play the rest.”
Nathaniel appeared again.
“There is one more thing.”
He looked frightened now.
Genuinely frightened.
“My mother isn't the one I'm most afraid of.”
Sylvester leaned forward.
Nathaniel whispered.
“Graham has someone inside Vale.”
Every muscle in Sylvester’s body tightened.
I looked at him.
“What?”
Nathaniel continued.
“I don't know who.”
“I know information I gave Michael has been leaking.”
Sylvester looked toward Edmund.
Edmund’s expression hardened.
“If Michael tells you to trust someone because they've been with his family forever…”
Nathaniel paused.
“…don't.”
Edmund slowly looked at Sylvester.
The video cut to black.
Silence.
Then the screen flickered.
One final frame appeared.
A scanned document.
Employee roster.
Vale Holdings.
A list of twelve names.
One had been circled.
EDMUND PRICE.
May you like
I looked up.
Edmund was standing three feet away.
